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Chavez Tells Kennedy: Adios!

Here in the frigid northeast, poorer citizens that receive oil heating assistance from Joe Kennedy’s Citizens Energy found out yesterday that they will receive less or nothing this winter because Joe’s best friend, Venezuelan dictator president Hugo Chavez’s PDVSA subsidiary Citgo, decided to quit donating oil because of falling oil prices and the “global economic crisis”.

At a press conference yesterday, Kennedy said Citizens Energy likely will be forced to cut about 20 percent of its heating oil distribution in Massachusetts and halt the program altogether in other states unless it can persuade Citgo to change its mind or can raise money elsewhere to buy oil and fund grants. In addition, he said Citizens would have to lay off 20 staffers.

Kennedy said he has repeatedly reached out to the Venezuelan government in an effort to persuade the company to resume oil donations. He also urged people to write to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Citgo is the US distribution arm of Venezuela’s state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, which Chávez indirectly controls. ‘We are doing everything we can,’ Kennedy said. ‘We’re not ready to give up.’

The ignorance of Kennedy is illustrated in the bolded words above; let’s think about this, a dictator, that cares less about his own people, will have an epiphany and decide to resume oil donations because the Prince Joe Kennedy and Americans have reached out to him. If Joe really wants to do everything he can, why doesn’t he stop taking a salary from the non-profit and let the firm use his salary to purchase more oil. According to the 2005 Citizens Energy 990 form, Joe made $57,903 as chairman of the non-profit firm and $305,708 from the for-profit sister company. Now, I’m not the type of complain about people making too much money, in fact I’m for it, but I know Joe’s background and if anything he isn’t hurting so why not put your money where you mouth and ideologies are and “help the poor folks in Boston”.

Joe K has ran ads the past couple years that discuss helping the area’s less fortunate and how it shouldn’t matter that he’s getting oil from a dictator that hates America, oppresses his own people, and supports terrorists. Here’s one that exploits the elderly and how SuperJoe is there to save the day:

I know the global situation is tough, and people/business/countries must act accordingly, but this program is three years old and when it was started oil prices were at hovering $50-70 and on the increase. Fast forward through the past two years and $140/barrel of oil and now oil is at the $40-50 range, but on the decline so now’s the time to end it? I think it’s more about Hugo’s need to sell a few more barrels instead of donating it to support his FARC buddies.

The good news is that lower prices should mean that more people will be able to afford heating their homes and rely less on the government and the aid that is distributed by our government to the poor will go further in heating people’s homes:

State and federal governments have stepped up subsidies to struggling families through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. ‘For the first time ever, the program is fully funded,’ said Susan Kooperstein, a spokeswoman for Action for Boston Community Development Inc., a nonprofit that provides services to low-income residents. Last year, Kooperstein said, the agency was able to give the city’s poorest families a maximum of $865, which bought more than a tank of oil. This year, the maximum has been raised to $1,305, which now buys more than three tanks.

Anyways, I see this as great for America because now I don’t have to watch Chavez use Kennedy as a mouthpiece for his “humanity”, even though his people suffer immensely and we’re not supporting that terrorist sympathizer/socialist who sides with Iran, Cuba, and Russia, and calls our President “the devil”. If Joe K was a patriot, it should have been a thanks, but no thanks from the beginning.